Panoramic nominee

After a 20+ mile backpack into Colorado's Chicago Basin in the Weminuche Wilderness Area, my climbing partner and I got an early start at 3 AM to ascend North Eolus Peak's 14,000 ft. summit before sunrise. We were joined by mountain goats on the summit (one is in the photo, but hard to see) and enjoyed one of the most memorable sunrises in my lifetime. Directly east of us below the sun was the formidable 14,000 ft. peaks Sunlight Peak and Windom Peak (which we climbed later that day and the day after). To the right (south) towered Eolus Peak and to the left getting hit by intense light were Turret Peak and Pigeon Peak, two of the more rugged peaks in the area. Also visble in this photograph are my favorite peaks in Colorado - Vestal Peak and Arrow Peak (left of middle, sticking up like a sore thumb), Jagged Mountain, Jupiter Peak, and more. You can even make out Uncompahgre Peak and Wetterhorn Peak on the horizon as well as Rio Grand Pyramid. If you can't tell, I'm a total Colorado mountain geek.

Matt Payne is a mountain climber, adventurer, and landscape photographer specializing in unique and hard-to-reach locations and subjects, including the highest mountains in Colorado. Matt loves the craft of landscape photography and has produced a podcast dedicated to that love affair called "F-Stop Collaborate and Listen." Matt wanted to create a space to have meaningful conversations with other landscape photographers all over the world. Matt also follows a very strict code of ethics as a nature photographer and is one of the founding members of Nature First Photography.